Exploring English – BC – podcast

1. Videos already made – from Britain is Great campaign. Explains their tourist feel.

2. This allowed for ‘great, unscripted interviews’.

3. MOOC does not fit a conventional syllabus – instead there is a noticing aspect – ‘Did you notice the use of the passive in that interview?’

4. Community aspect is very important. Large number of comments generated – ‘teachers’ have to focus on the language discussions to make sure that questions are answered. In other discussions, learners have been answering each other.

5. Mass email to all learners at the end of each week. Shows that comments are being read, if not answered, and it can point to extra learning resources.

6. Value to the learner of the MOOC: mainly through the community aspect, and that the learners are having to use English to communicate in real situations. If it was just language, this could be found anywhere online, so it has to be more than that.

7. Geographical spread – ideas can come from many countries; exchange of ideas; ‘everyone brings something to the table’.

8. Topicality – changes can be made as the course progresses – an extra step added!

9. Difference between the MOOC and other language learning websites? Structure? Sense of Community? Time is committed for 6 weeks.

10. Future of this kind of course? They should not be surprised that it was so popular considering that it was advertised as a free English course, and that there is a great demand for that.